Gregg Loewen

Is HD-DVD Dead? W Bros has announced support for Blu Ray?

Hi guys!

Warner Bros has announced support for Blu Ray DVD. So then is HD DVD dead in the water? Once I heard that the Xbox 360 would not support HD DVD then I figured that PS3 and Blu Ray would be the winner in this format war.

Was this announcement that last nail in the HD DVD coffin??

Here is the announcement:

http://www.homemediaretailing.com/ne...rticle_id=8150

Regards

Gregg

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John Garcia

I'd say Blu-ray is well on it's way to "winning" the format war. I'm sure HD DVD is not dead yet, but it probably won't be long.

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Phil A

Toshiba issued this press release in response the WB one:

"Oct 20, 2005 22:22

Toshiba's Statement on Reports Related to Warner Bros.'s Announcement on Next-Generation Optical Discs

TOKYO --(Business Wire)-- Oct. 21, 2005 Toshiba and Warner Bros. continue to collaborate closely toward the commercial launch of HD DVD. We understand Warner Bros. continues to strongly support HD DVD, due to its outstanding features, cost structures, and market readiness.
We recognize Warner Bros.'s participation in the Blu-ray Disc Association represents the studio's understandable commitment to listen to a broad array of opinions and to continue to make technical evaluations of each format, and we are more than confident this will not affect timely introduction of HD DVD content to the market.

The fact that new voices from within the Blu-ray camp have recently called for adoption of key features already in HD DVD -- iHD for its superb PC interoperability and Mandatory Managed Copy to allow for secure DVD ripping -- shows the level of technical balance achieved by the HD DVD format.

HD DVD offers already-verified volume disc production and substantial superiority in terms of recordable disc cost. It also integrates a series of advanced technologies, including AACS for robust content protection system, and VC-1, a highly efficient video compression technology, for enhanced storage capacity.

Toshiba strongly believes the HD DVD format will eventually win broad support as the more superior format, and in cooperation with our partners, we are committed to bringing HD DVD products first to market early next year in the U.S. "

Charlie Campisi

Excuse a question from someone mostly uninformed on this, but what's the deal with backwards compatibility with dvd? I thought HD DVD players were to be able to play dvd's, while blu-ray players would not. Does this mean I'll need to keep a dvd player in my system until I replace all my current dvds with blu-ray disks? If so, this is a bit of a shift in thinking by Sony, imo, which strongly touted the PS2's ability to play original playstation games as a selling point. I guess it's not a big deal to keep a dvd player around, but backwards compatibility would be nice. My PS2 is now the property of my kids', but I also wonder if the ps3 will play ps2 and playstation games.

ChristopherDAC

All next-generation optical media plyers, HD-DVD, BluRay, you-name-it, will play standard DVDs, just as all current DVD players also play audio CDs [and most also support VCD and SVCD]. Likewise, your new Sony product will continue to play older Sony software. What makes you think otherwise? All the threads here on this subject have said the same thing, and the industry press releases have too.

Toshiba has proposed a double-sided HD-DVD/DVD hybrid disc, which is another thing entirely, equivalent to a single-layer HD-DVD and a single-layer DVD bonded together. This is a different form of "backwad compatability", equivalent to the [half-assed] CD-DVD hybrid known as the "DualDisc", and has nothing to do with the new players. The idea is to produce something which will play in both old and new players; it has also been discussed in the BluRay camp, but since BluRay is not a DVD-Forum-approved product and there are other difficulties there seems not to have been much done.

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